Street-sweeping- machine



. KERN, STREET SWEEPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19. I914.

Patented June 17, 1919.

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B. KERN.

STREET SWEEPING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19 1914.

1,306,910, Patented June 17, 1919.

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I STREET SWEEPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19. 1914.

1 ,306,9 1 O. Patented June 17, 1919.

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B. KERN.

STREET SWEEPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19. 19:4.

1,306,910. Patented June 17, 1919.

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314mm wi lmeooeo v BERNARD KERN, 0F SANDU'SKY, OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

STREET-SWEEPING MACHINE.

Patented June 17, 1919.

Application filed November 19, 1914. Serial No. 873,005.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNARD KERN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sandusky, in the county of Erie and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Sweeping Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to street sweeping machines and more particularly to that type of machine utilizing in conjunction with a brush, pneumatic means for conveying the brushed-up material, and a dust separator and collector designed to free the air of its laden material and purify the air prior to its discharge from the machine.

More particularly the invention comprises an improved dust collector and box asso-' ciated with means for carrying away from the box the dust and other refuse deposited therein, and discharging the same into a cart or wagon to be taken away so that the machine may be promptly emptied on the street and its usefulness not seriously impaired from the standpoint of time as would be the case were the entire machine required to be propelled to a dump or other place of de osit.

n the preferred embodiment of the invention which I have elected to illustrate in the accompanying drawings in order to impart a clear understanding of the invention, a conveyor is associated with the bottom of a dust separator and collector, the same being adapted to work through the bottom of the latter and carry the collected matter to the rear of the machine where it feeds to an upright conveyer desl ed to raise such ma terial to a relatively high point of discharge for delivery into the open top of a wagon or cart.

Conveniently the upright convever'is in line with the bottom conveyer, first above mentioned, and centrally disposed with reference to the separator and collector box and when in use obviously obstructs the entrance to the end of the boX,-which is provided with a suitable door. To overcome this possible disadvantage the invention further embraces the mounting of the upright conveyer so that, when not in use, the same may be swung downwardly away from the rear of the separator and collector box and out of the path of a door at the rear of the box which is adapted when opened to afford access to the interior of the box and to the dust separating mechanism contained therewithin.

The foregoing main features of the pres ent invention, as well as many other improved details in construction and arrangement of parts will. appear from a reading of the specific description hereinafter, when read in connection with the aforesaid drawings and in which drawings,

Figure '1 is a side elevation of a street sweeping machine, largely diagrammatic or general in character furnished with the present improvements;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the dust separator and collector box with its associated parts taken on a line near the supporting and propelling means;

Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation showing the conveyor swung away from its normal operating position to permit the opening of the rear door of the box, and,

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section on the line 55, Fig. 1 looking down upon the bottom conveyor and the operating shaft arranged there above for transmitting power to said conveyer as well as to the upright conveyor at the rear of the machine.

Referring more specifically to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views, A represents a rotary sweeper brush adapted to engage the surface to be cleaned and to free the refuse to be caught and drawn upwardly through a suitable nozzled conductor B by means of a fan C and blown by said fan through a conductor D into a dust separator and collector box E. Within the box E and in position to exert the desired influence upon the incoming products discharged into the box, is a rotary dust collector F adapted to permit the heavier products to fall to the bottom of the box E, exteriorly of the separator, while permitting the finer particles to be collected on the surface of the collector and deposited in what I have styled a dead air chamber G provided between walls H extending transversely across the lower portion ofthe box E. The collector is adapted to be rotated by means of 'a wheel 7 having engagement with the periphery of the collector, said wheel being driven through the medium of a belt 7" to present the difl'erent ortions of the separator above the charm or G, said separator being adapted to be agitated to liberate the dust and permit the same .to fall into the chamber G in any suitable manner not necessary to be pointed out in detail herein, this feature constituting part of my invention disclosed in copending application, Serial No. 873,010, filed November 29, 1914.

The fan and the collector may be operated through any suitable mechanism such as that diagrammatically shown in dotted lines.

With reference to the dead :air chamber it is that space indicated between the dotted lines marked II in Fig. 1. The showing will be amplified in 'this particular.

The features 'thus far described constitute elements of allied inventions of my own illustrated in detail, for example, in my pending application Serial No. 783220, filed August 5, 1913.

The bottom of the box 1*], longitudinally thereof and throughout its extent, is formed into a trough, as represented at I, so that the matter collected in the bottom of the box proper and within the dead air chamber G will feed into said trough at the longitudinal center of the machine.

In suitable bearings J, at the forward and rear ends of the box, I mount a shaft K formed on and to rotate with which is a worm conveyer L designed to be operated through the medium of a gear M meshing with a pinion N 'thereabove on the main drive shaft 0, also extending through the box E and supported at the opposite ends thereof above the worm conveyer K. This shaft is provided with a beveled gear P meshing with a similar gear Q on a shaft R,-

receiving its power from any suitable motor S and driving through the medium of a chain T the traction wheels U of the vehicle.

; The traction wheels are mounted on an arched axle V securely bolted to a similarlyshaped inverted bolster W extending trans versely across the bottom of the box E with its opposite terminals secured to the frame of the box and its intermediate depressed portion embracing the trough portion I of theibox.

A manually operable clutch 1) couples or uncouples the pinion Pv with the drive shaft 0 and this controls the actuation of the screw L and said shaft, although of course any other suitable coupling and driving means may be substituted for those to which I have just alluded.

The screw conveyer L discharges beyond the rear end of the vehicle into an inclined chute 2 feeding tovthe lower end of an upright casing 3, in which an endless chain conveyer 4, provided with suitable buckets or :flights 5 works, the same working over sprockets 6 rotatably mounted within the casing adjacent to the upper and lower ends the same, the sprocket and chains being driven through a gear wheel 7 mounted outside of the casing at the top thereof on the shaft 8 of the upper sprocket wheel 6, said wheel meshing with a complementary gear 9 supported :on'a bracket 10 on the forward side of the casing 3 and in turn receiving its power through a beveled gear 11 meshing with a similar beveled gear 12 on the upper end of a vertically disposed rotatable shaft The upper end of the casing 3 at the rear side thereof is provided with an obliquely disposed discharge opening 17, delivering to a flexible discharge pipe 18 adapted to deliver into a dirt cart or wagon. The normal position of the vertical flight, conveyer is that indicated in 1, but as previously suggested, it is desirable at times to swing this conveyer away from the rear of the machine to which end the lower inclined portion of the conveyer casing is hinged, as at 18, to the lower part of the main casing near the chute 2'. The hinge connection is suitably reinforced bybrackets ltl depending from the bottom of the main casing, so that the conveyer with its easing, with the shaft 13 and gearing associated with the upper end of the same, may be swungoutwardly as shown in Fig. 4.

Suitable latches '20, of any approved type and number fasten the vertical conveyor and associated parts to the rear of the dust separator and collecting box E. y p

21 represents the hinged door at the rear of the box affording access to the interior of the Seine when the vertical conveyer is out of the way. I, p

By reason of the fact that the conveying and separating of the products collected by the machine is with the assistance ofa moving volume of air, a seal should be provided at the ends of the worm conveyer and at those portions of the conveyer shaft which, pass through the partitions H of the dead air chamber, in the latter instance to prevent the air from disturbing the dust dropping into the dead air chamber and in the first instance to prevent dust being blown out of the machine, it being understood that the conveyers may be worked eitherwhen the remaining portions of the apparatusare' idle or active. These seals are constituted by cutting away portions of the worm, "as

the worm which will be sufficient to obstruct the passage of air at the points sealed thereby,-while not preventing the effective operation of the screw conveyer throughout the extent of the same. The air escapes through the sides of the collecting box E into filtering chambers 214 opening to the exterior of the machine and not necessary to be specifically defined herein inasmuch as this filtering device constitutes the subject matter of a copending application, serial No. 873,006, filed November 19, 1914.

22 represents a trailing detachable dirt box into which the elevator 4 discharges, separably coupled at 23 and 24. WVhen this trailer is employed, the entire apparatus may be. worked simultaneously; but for short runs, or where otherwise found expedient, the trailer as an accompaniment for the sweeper may be dispensed with, in which event, the conveyer and elevator willl be inactive during the sweeping operation, and until a suitable receiver is placed in connection with the discharge spout 18. This arrangement also enables the dirt box trailer to be detached and sent to the dump, while permitting the sweeping operation to be pursued until the trailer returns from said dump, when the sweeper proper may be cleared of the accumulations in the interim.

While I have herein disclosed one embodiment of the invention, it will be understood by persons skilled in the art that the same is capable of embodiment in other forms and devices that may be in keeping with the hereto appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a street sweeping machine, the combination with a refuse collecting box, a dust separator therein discharging to a dead air chamber at the lower portion of the box, and air conveyer adapted to discharge the refuse into the box and within the influence of the dust separator, and a worm conveyer arranged within the lower portion of the box to discharge the collected material exteriorly of the box, portions of the worm being interrupted at points intermediate the ends thereof where the worm shaft passes through the Walls of the dead air chamber, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a street sweeping machine, the combination with a refuse collecting box, a dust separator therein discharging to a dead air chamber at the lower portion of the box, an air conveyer adapted to discharge the refuse into the box and within the influence of the dust separator, a worm conveyer arranged within the lower portion of the box to discharge the collected material exteriorly of the box, portions of the worm being interrupted at points intermediate the ends thereof where the worm shaft passes through the walls of the dead air chamber, the conveyer shaft also having bearings in the opposite end walls of the box and the worm being cut away at a point adjacent to the discharge end of the conveyer and within the body of the collecting box to provide an unobstructed space, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

BERNARD KERN.

Witnesses:

A. J. HENDRIoKsoN, EMMETT MARTIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "commissioner of Patenta, Washington, D. 0. 

